John McCracken (historian)
John McCracken | |
---|---|
Born | Kenneth John McCracken 1 July 1938 Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
Died | 23 October 2017 | (aged 79)
Spouse(s) | Jane Purkis (1966) Juliet Clough (1972—) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Doctoral advisor | Ronald Robinson |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Sub-discipline | |
Institutions | University of Dar es Salaam University of Stirling |
Kenneth John McCracken (1 July 1938 – 23 October 2017) was a British historian and Africanist. He was known particularly for his works on the history of Malawi and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa.
Biography
John McCracken was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 1 July 1938.[1] He was educated at Sedbergh School and later studied at St John's College, Cambridge, where he became interested in African history. He undertook a PhD at Cambridge under the supervision of Ronald Robinson, focussing on Church of Scotland missions in colonial Malawi.
While still a doctoral student, in 1964 McCracken left for Africa. He took up a teaching post at
McCracken returned to Britain in 1968 in order to take up a post at the University of Stirling, founded the previous year, where he remained for most of his academic career. He published a number of well-received articles and chapters on the social, economic, and political history of Malawi as well as environmental history.[2] He remarried in 1972.[3] McCracken left Stirling briefly between 1980 and 1983 to take up a senior post at the University of Malawi. He also served as president of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom (ASAUK) between 1990 and 1992.[4] He retired from teaching in 2002.[5] After his retirement McCracken continued to work on Malawian history, publishing several further monographs including A History of Malawi, 1859–1966 (2012) and Voices from the Chilembwe Rising (2015).[6] He died on 23 October 2017.
A posthumous festschrift, entitled Politics, Christianity and Society in Malawi, was published in his honour in 2020.
Citations
- ^ Ross, Kenneth R. (16 November 2017). "Obituary: John McCracken, leading African historian and Malawi expert". The Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ a b Vaughan 2018, p. 197.
- ^ a b Smith, Angela (13 December 2017). "John McCracken obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Dr John McCracken has passed away". Centre of African Studies. University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ "John McCracken, historian of Malawi – obituary". The Telegraph. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ Vaughan 2018, p. 198.
References
- .
External links
- Dr John McCracken has Passed Away Archived 24 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine at the Centre for African Studies (University of Edinburgh)